2007 Tahoe

Well, After feeling like the Lexus RX330 wasnt going to cut it for a towing rig, I traded it in for a 07 chevy tahoe. Its a beautiful piece of machinery and having towed with it 4 times feel like the WDH is uneccesary.
Anyone else tow with a new tahoe?

Heres the specs:
TM 07 2619 around 3200 pounds loaded
Tahoe Curb Weight around 5500lbs + Me, passenger, gear and dog = 6000
tahoe GCWR 12,000
6000 + 3200 = 9200 combined weight
9200/12000 = roughly towing 75% of vehicles capacity
Tahoe trailer capacity 6200 lbs
(Hitch label states a WDH wont be neccesary for
trailers under 5000lbs/500 tongue weight)

Tahoe drops 2.5 inches in the rear and raises .5 an inch in the front when the trailer is loaded. And actually levels the front and rear wheel wells to 36.5 inches each (unloaded it has a slight slant to the front)

Towing at 50mph for the first 500 miles has the mpg @ 18, Im sure this will go down the faster I tow.

The tahoe has a transmission temperature gauge and averaged around 165 degrees when towing on the flats.

Tahoe also has a tow/haul mode which changes the gearing and sends a boosted electrical charge to the trailers battery.
I actually ran out of battery last weekend, plugged the trailer into the tahoe with the engine running and tow/haul mode button pushed and went back inside to do dishes. Approximately one hour later I had a full charge showing on my gauge. Wow, made me rethink my need for solar panels.

So all you gear heads out there tell me why I need a WDH. I actually may keep it around to use just for those cross country trips I make. But for my average weekend 2-3 hour trip, I may just skip it.

How much sag do you get in the rear of the TV when you connect the TM? I get about 3/4 inch sag and use no WD hitch.

Weigh the rig with and without the TM. How much weight loss occurs on the front wheels of the TV when you hook up the TM? Too much weight reduction on the wheels that do the steering is not a good thing.

[fcatwo]

Congratulation on the new rig. I've never known anyone who owned a Tahoe who wasn't happy with it. On your question: IMO you don't NEED a WDH any more than you NEED a Tahoe. However, I think you will find improved comfort, ride and handling with a WDH that you won't miss if you never experience it.

You can probably "get by" without a WDH, but if you already have it, why not use it? At night, the oncoming drivers will thank you - or at least won't flash their lights and say bad things about you. On the charging of the battery by running the Tahoe - how much did it cost to charge that battery? One hour of gas to run a V8 engine . . . humm